Whitewashing is a popular technique for adding a rustic and vintage look to furniture. And in this guide, I’ll show you how to white wash furniture with chalk paint! Along with these chalk paint furniture ideas, it is also great for refinishing pieces.

I’ll be working with an old finished piece, so if you have a similar one you want to refresh, keep reading how chalk paint can give it a beautiful whitewashed look.

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See more AFTER photos below these printable instructions!

White Wash Furniture With Chalk Paint

Materials

Tools

Instructions

First, remove the hardware from your furniture using an electric screwdriver. You can choose to keep the old hardware for reuse or replace it with new options.
Next, properly clean the furniture surface using a product like Krud Kutter to remove any dirt, grime, or grease. This step is important for a smooth and long lasting finish.
After cleaning, lightly scuff sand the surface by hand with 220 grit sandpaper to create a better grip for the paint.
Mix your homemade chalk paint using white latex paint, calcium carbonate powder, and water. Water down the mixture to your desired consistency for a translucent or opaque finish for your whitewash.
Use a dry brush technique to apply the whitewash onto your furniture, following the direction of the wood grain. This will give you a nice, streaky look.
Apply topcoat onto your whitewashed piece using a paint sprayer to seal and protect the finish. Apply at least 3 coats for durability.
If desired, paint new or old hardware with chalk paint and add a topcoat for added protection. Attach them back onto the furniture once dry.

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close-up view of furniture after the makeover

full image of furniture after the makeover

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Chalk paint is versatile and great for creating a variety of finishes, from smooth and modern to distressed and shabby chic. It’s easy to work with, budget friendly, and you can even make your own at home! We use it all the time in our DIY projects.

Now, whitewashing is a technique that gives a beautiful, aged look to any piece. If you’re going for a rustic, farmhouse, or cottage vibe in your home decor, adding this kind of finish is one of the simple ways to make it happen.

So, I’ll walk you through the steps on how to white wash furniture with chalk paint. It’s super easy to get this charming look for your own pieces. Even if you’re a beginner, you’ll be able to pull this off after reading this guide.

Supplies Used to White Wash Furniture With Chalk Paint

Prep Furniture Before White Washing

So, I removed the hardware first using an electric screwdriver. I didn’t plan on using the original hardware anymore, so I just tossed it in the garbage. You can feel free to keep yours and reuse it in your project or replace it with new hardware for a fresh look.

removing hardware with electric screwdriver

After that, I cleaned everything up using Krud Kutter. I made sure to wipe everything down properly to remove any dirt, grime, or grease. The final finish is only as good as the surface it’s applied to, so this step is super important. You can learn more about how to clean furniture before painting in this post.

Next, I scuff sanded the surface by hand with 220 grit sandpaper. This helps to provide a better grip for the new coating. I didn’t remove the old stain on this piece – just sanded it enough to rough up the surface a little bit.

scuff sanding the surface of furniture by hand

Get more tips and tricks on sanding for paint prep in this post. You can also learn about the best sandpaper for refinishing furniture options here.

Make Homemade Chalk Paint for Whitewash

Then, with our homemade chalk paint recipe, I mixed Behr latex in Pure White, calcium carbonate powder, and water. As measurements go, you could mix 5 tablespoons of calcium carbonate with water first, then when it’s mixed like a glaze, you can add it to a cup of latex.

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And then I watered down the white paint probably by about 50%. This will give you a translucent finish. You can add less water if you want more of an opaque look. You can also play around with different ratios to see which you like best.

How to White Wash Furniture With Chalk Paint

And then, I brushed the whitewash on and wiped it back off, but it didn’t seem like it was wiping very much off at first. Eventually, I decided to try more of a dry brush technique. I felt like that might give me the look I was going for.

Dry brushing is where I put a tiny, tiny bit of paint on my brush and then dabbed most of it off onto a paper towel. After that, I brushed in the direction of the wood grain, which left just a few streaks of coating here and there.

I just remember this makeover being incredibly hard and frustrating. Honestly, I wouldn’t ever do it this way again. In hindsight, it would’ve been better to remove the original finish first so the whitewash would have something to actually soak into.

Without removing the finish, the paint didn’t have anything to grip onto, so it kept wiping back off too easily. And I wanted more of a heavy white texture instead of just really light on the oak. Here’s how to remove wood stain like I should’ve done first!

Our guides on how to whitewash wood and how to whitewash stained wood should also give you some additional inspiration and techniques to try out.

Topcoat White Wash

After being satisfied with the look, I sprayed a topcoat on the whitewashed piece using our Wagner sprayer. I applied about three coats of waterbased polyurethane. This helped to seal the new finish to keep it looking good and durable.

stirring varathane polyurethane thoroughly

Here’s everything about sealing painted furniture, and you can check out more topcoat for painting furniture options in this post.

Attach New Hardware

For the hardware, like I said before, we tossed the old ones out. You can find great new options at your local home improvement store or even online. I decided to use some cup pulls and a few regular knobs that I already had on hand.

So they wouldn’t stick out on this piece, I also gave the new hardware a fresh coat of white paint, and then added a topcoat as well. This way, they blend in with the bright final finish and add a cohesive look to the piece. Here’s a more detailed guide on how to paint drawer pulls.

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If you want to use the same old hardware, you can learn how to clean old furniture hardware here, so they will still look like new!

So that’s how you can whitewash furniture with chalk paint! Again, if I could do it over, I’d definitely remove the original finish first so the whitewash could really soak in and create the more solid, textured look that I wanted.

Still, you can see how it turned out pretty well, even with the challenges I faced. So I hope you learn from my experience and have better results when you try it out yourself.

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White Wash Furniture With Chalk Paint